The national senior men’s cricket team, the Cricket Cranes bowled off the Continental Cup T20-Africa with a win.
They beat Botswana by six wickets at the Gymkhana Cricket Oval in Nairobi, Kenya today afternoon.
Cranes easily chased down Botswana’s score of 113 runs on the wicket that is known to favour batters.
Pace bowler Bilal Hassun owned the oval, taking a liking, especially for Botswana’s middle order.
Bilal who was just returning to the team after missing the Qatar trip in April, claimed four wickets.
The Cranes player had a big one in Karabo Mothlanka, the Botswana Captain who had stuck on the wicket for 19 Overs and was named the Player of the Match.
Frank Nsubuga and Dinesh picked two wickets while Alpesh Ramjani and Riazat Ali Shah got one apiece.
Henry Senyondo didn’t have the honours of dismissing anyone but produced the second-best economy of 4.50.
Uganda’s innings started with a blast; both openers, Simon Ssesazi and Roger Mukasa went hard for boundaries.
A Leg Before Wicket off Khumalo’s bowling took Ssesazi out with just 9 runs, but Mukasa continued and wrote history.
With the 41 runs he notched, Mukasa hit the 3500 runs mark and stretched his all-time leading run scorer in all formats for Uganda.
The 34-year-old took his tally to 3534 runs. Except for Karabo’s 45, Mukasa’s 41 was the highest score on the pitch in this game.
Ramjani had a quick 29 that included 2 sixes and as many fours while Nakrani managed 14 in the Cranes jersey.
Kenya won the opening game of the tournament, beating Rwanda by 3 wickets, but Uganda will end day one on top of the table.
The triple round-robin tourney continues tomorrow and Uganda will face Kenya in the afternoon (1:30 pm) at the same ground.
Courtesy Photos
